Introduction
Manual Override presents Simon Fujiwara's multi-sensory Empathy I. Developed in close collaboration with a company that produces theme park rides, Empathy I is a 5d simulator that was inspired by the artist’s experiences of several sites of popular leisure, from mass historical tourist attractions such as Neuschwanstein Castle to theme parks such as Disneyland Paris.
The exhibition centers on the pioneering filmmaker and artist Lynn Hershman Leeson and five artists who adapted a similar collaborative model as a prototype to create their own hybrid practices to reframe, reimagine, and even intervene in dominant technological narratives.
The works included critique the social, cultural, and ethical issues embedded in emerging technological systems ranging from mass surveillance to predictive policing. Central to the exhibition is the idea of a manual override, or human interference in an automated system, a gesture in response to an error in programming, or poor judgment in design.